12.7 Billion

By: Carolyn Hileman

12.7 Billion, that is a large number and that is tax dollars, and that is just part of the money our children will be competing for, for college if the dream act passes. Currently there are 1400 federal programs to help low and no income children to get an education an education paid for by many whose children will never be able to take advantage of them. The 12.7 billion I speak of is the Pell Grant alone, it however goes to students whose families only make about $20, 000.00 per year. It is possible to obtain one if your parents make up to $50,000.00 per year but highly unlikely and if they do it will be in such a small amount it will not even make a dent in the books alone.

Now we have some who would say that the dream act does not matter, but to anyone looking to put a child through college it matters, at my daughters school they do what I fondly call a exercise in futility, they make the student fill out all these different applications because if they donâ€™t they may not be eligible for a scholarship. My daughter who really does not think I know anything when it comes to college did just that and was amazed that since her Daddy has a job and pays his taxes, he makes to much money for her to be eligible to take advantage of just about all of those taxpayer funded programs. She also knows that even though her Daddy works we simply cannot afford to pay for her to go to college. Perhaps if we no longer paid a house note, drove a vehicle, or ate we might and I do mean might be able to meet the first yearâ€™s tuition.

I really do not have any problem helping some kid whose parents do not have the means to afford college, but I do have a problem with rewarding under achievement and that is exactly what these federal programs do, this and the earned income credit is nothing more than a government handout pure and simple. Our government has a bad tendency to reward people for not working; it is evident in welfare, food stamps, and in federal grants for college and even in our income tax structure. Take for instance the earned income tax break, one look at that and you think they are going to reward you for working, well they will if you stop working when you get to about $25,000.00 and donâ€™t let that number fool you, you will be at the bottom of the totem pole in rewards. It is only those who earn $9,000 who get those $4,000.00 checks. Backwards but then again our government rewards bad behavior.

If you are on welfare and God forbid you decide to work, they will immediately drop the amount you are getting so as to keep you in the poverty level, while I think it is a good thing to wean people off of public assistance it usually has the opposite effect. People who are trying to get on their feet suddenly find the rug pulled from underneath them and they must attempt to dig themselves out of a hole with their bare hands while those who never even bother to look for a job are sitting pretty spending our money. Once again our government rewards bad behavior and punishes good behavior.

We have heard numerous calls for education to be fair, and I agree it should be fair, so letâ€™s make it fair shall we. Letâ€™s us make it to where the children of the taxpayers can access the federal grants their parents paid for, letâ€™s make the grants based of academic scores rather than income, no more quotas, no more backdoor letâ€™s get this one in because he can throw a football, no changing anyoneâ€™s legal status so they can partake in what the American taxpayers have paid for. Just once reward good behavior in our country, reward those children who forgo dating and parties for a quiet night with their text books, reward those students who have been in this country all of their lives, who have never had to lie to teachers or anyone else about who they are. Reward those students whose parents have worked their whole lives, whose parents stayed up nights trying to help their kids with their homework. Letâ€™s be fair shall we, letâ€™s be fair to the hard working parents who are forced to take out second mortgages, pull money from their retirement plans, forgo any plans they have ever had for themselves or the other children they might have who just might want to go to college, yeah letâ€™s be fair and share some of that taxpayer paid 12. 7 Billion.